CAMPAIGNS: Charities PR - Tell It Like It Is package aids Scope push

Client: Scope

PR Team: In-house

Campaign: Tell It Like It Is

Timescale: September - ongoing

Budget: £30,000 of which £25,000 came from the former

Department for Education and Employment

In 2000, disabled charity Scope produced Stop Press!, a report that

showed many journalists use stereotypes and pejorative terms to describe

disabled people. This year, to encourage the media and marketers to

portray the reality of disabled people's lives, Scope developed an

awareness campaign and multi-media training package titled Tell It Like

It Is.

Objectives

To change the way the media portrays disabled people and more

specifically distribute 1,000 multi-media tools within a year of

launch.

Strategy and Plan

The charity held a launch event at the offices of His Grace the Duke of

Westminster on 6 November. It was hosted by campaigners and celebrities,

including Paralympics athlete Danny Crates. Minister for disabled people

Maria Eagle MP addressed journalists and industry representatives.

To gain buy-in for the tool, Scope approached celebrity broadcasters for

endorsement. Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow and disabled TV presenter

Mik Scarlet co-hosted the video, while BBC arts & media correspondent

Nick Higham, and Society of Editors chair Bob Satchwell added

endorsements.

The launch was attended by representatives from bodies including the

National Union of Journalists, the ITC, the Cabinet Office and the

Newspaper Society.

After the launch, the charity placed an ad in the New Statesman

magazine.

It is currently preparing a mailshot to a wide selection of

communications professionals.

Measurement and Evaluation

It is early days but coverage so far has been secured in Direct

Marketing Week, BBC in-house publication Ariel, The Journalist and the

Journal of Brand Management.

Results

The campaign should provide a framework for all communications

professionals to question how they portray the 8.6 million disabled

adults in the UK.